Twitter has its own algorithm, so we like to warn our users of the follow limits and ratios, however we recommend that you visit the Twitter help pages for more details.
Twitter doesn't limit the number of accounts you can follow overall, but there are some limits as to the pace at which you can do so, including daily limits. It all depends on how big your account is and if you don't follow users indiscriminately.- Every Twitter account is able to follow up to 400 accounts per day, however verified Twitter accounts are able to follow up to 1,000 accounts per day.
In addition to this daily limit, there are follow ratios that take effect once you’re following a certain number of accounts, so we thought to include them here:
- Every Twitter account can follow up to 5,000 accounts. Once you reach that number, you may need to wait until your account has more followers before you can follow additional accounts. This number is different for each account and is automatically calculated based on your unique ratio of followers to following.
It is important to also note that the Twitter rules prohibit abusive following, and the violation of these rules will most likely result in the suspension of an account, so it is best to be aware. These rules specifically prohibit:
- Following and then unfollowing large numbers of accounts in an effort to inflate one’s own follower count, called “follow churn”
- Following and/or unfollowing numerous unrelated accounts in a short time period, particularly by automated means, called "indiscriminate following"
- Duplicating another account’s followers, particularly using automation to do so
- Using or promoting third-party services, or apps that claim to add followers
The Twitter follow ratio
If you encounter a message that states, “You are unable to follow more people at this time” it may be for one of the following reasons:
- You’ve reached the daily follow limit, so you will need to wait until a day has passed to follow more accounts
- You've followed too many accounts too quickly, so you will have to wait an hour or two to try again
- You’ve hit a follow ratio limit, as mentioned in this article above, so you will have to try again once your account has more followers, or you can unfollow a few accounts to follow new ones
- Your account is locked or limited, as they can lock an account if it appears to be compromised, or if it's in violation of the Twitter rules or Terms of Service. This could be due to aggressive follow behaviour.
- Accounts in a locked state are limited in actions they can perform, including following.